New ‘super quick’ Volkswagen Golf Design Vision GTI

The new VW Golf Design Vision GTI has been unveiled at the 2013 Wörthersee Motor Show

The new VW Golf Design Vision GTI has been unveiled at the 2013 Wörthersee Motor Show, the inspiration for this new Golf concept is clearly taken from the W12 engined Golf GTI of old. The VW Golf is known for being quick but this Design Vision GTI is ‘super quick’ achieving 0-60 mph in just 3.5 seconds on par with a Ferrari and can go on to 190mph.

Powered by a 3 litre VR6 engine with a secret dual clutch automatic gearbox this car handles better than a supercar, if it was to make it to production then the starting price would be a big question, probably around the £70k mark and no doubt built to order.

The exterior of the Design Vision Golf GTI doesn’t look much like a regular Golf, the side sills and entire C-pillar stand apart from the side of the car similar to a supercars air intake. The Design Vision Golf GTI is 71mm wider than a road-going Golf GTI, though it’s still based on the VW Group’s flexible MQB architecture, which underpins the new Golf, Seat Leon, Audi A3 and Skoda Octavia. A 15mm reduction in length and 57mm drop in height add to the car’s very different proportions.

The interior of the concept features carbonfibre and Alcantara trim, the door handles are made of red fabric to reduce weight a feature popular with the lightweight Porsches such as the GT3 RS and the Cayman R. The rear favours an X shaped cross brace rather than rear seats, under the brace is a store for a couple of crash helmets which suggests this concept maybe a track version of the GTI to be sold through Volkswagen Motorsport which is currently enjoying considerable success on the World Rally Championship circuit. The dashboard display does show the circuit being driven and the drivers best lap times and the system claims to communicate with other vehicles on track to warn of danger ahead.

The VW Design Vision Golf GTI is what it says in its name ‘a vision’ of the ultimate GTI. Later this year the 286 bhp all wheel Golf R will go on sale this will probably be the nearest to the ultimate but on the road Golf. This next generation Golf R will have four wheel drive and a significant power advantage despite using the same engine you can expect 286bhp from the turbocharged 2.0-litre engine. Dr Hackenberg from Volkswagen revealed the Golf R will feature the two active exhaust flaps found in the Audi S3 but absent from the Golf GTI. The extra noise generated will again help distinguish the Golf R from the Golf GTI.